Turning Page - A Jasper Hale story

Chapter Seven

"Paul Lahote!" she yelled, eyebrows furrowed, "let me in this room right now, or so help me god I will never speak to you again!"

Jude was not one for threats. But after going weeks without seeing Sam, Paul had now disappeared too, and she did not like it at all. Not one bit.

She was exhausted. She had been asking Charlie Swan for an update every chance she got, but alas he never had one for her. Her budding friendship with the Cullen siblings and her existing friendships with Mike, Jess, Angela, Eric and Tyler had kept her distracted at school, but once at home she felt lost. 

Her mother had attempted to lower her shifts at the diner, so that she was able to do her schoolwork, but she wondered if that was the correct decision - seeing her daughter scribbling away in her journal, a troubled look on her face, made her more concerned than anything.

Alas, no answer came from behind Paul's bedroom door. His mother looked at Jude with such sympathetic eyes, she could feel the agony radiating from the young girl, but she knew she could not help her.

Jude thanked her for letting her try and see Paul and exited the house. She climbed into her car and rested her forehead onto the steering wheel, her shoulders shuddering as she began to cry.

She couldn't understand for the life of her why everyone seemed to be going through a trend of leaving her at the moment. It made her feel so unwanted and undesirable. Her innermost anxieties began to creep up into her mind, but before they could swallow her whole, she flipped the ignition, willing herself to at least make it home.

The drive from La Push to Forks was quiet. Jude could not bring herself to turn on the radio - no doubt some irritating love song would be playing. She was worried she had said something to Sam and Paul, offended them in such a way that they would refuse to see her - but she could not think of anything. She had been told Paul had mono - just like Sam, but surely if they both had it... she would've caught it too? Right? 

Jude could not stop pondering theories as she pulled up onto her driveway, so much so, she missed the car that was parked out the front.

Jasper and Edward emerged from the silver Volvo, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Jasper especially so, when a wave of sadness from the girl hit him. He hated how upset she had been lately. The disappearance of the two Quileute boys effecting her more than he liked. Edward was silently glad. She clearly didn't know of the true nature of the tribe - after all, what you don't know can't hurt you. And as long as the two boys came nowhere near her, she absolutely wouldn't get hurt.

"Are you okay?" Jasper asked, as he approached her. Jude nodded, forcing a smile onto her lips. 

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, curiosity building. Edward laughed at her thoughts - her theories spanning from wanting help with homework to trying to save her from a deadly bear-wolf hybrid roaming the forrest. 

If only she knew, he thought.

"We have a history project," Edward prompted, hoping to remind her.

"Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry Edward, I totally forgot - come on you two, we better get started."

The two boys exchanged a glance at her naivety - she did not even question why Jasper was there. Jasper made a mental note to keep an eye on her when she left the house, and Edward agreed with it.

***

"Maybe we could put this... here?" Jude asked, moving a block of information from one side of the poster board to another. Jasper nodded, agreeing with everything Jude had stated so far.

"I'm not sure," Edward tried to reason with his brother and their friend. He liked this mundane little life that Jude allowed him to have - group projects, nights spent doing homework while watching tv, it made him feel almost human again. Jasper often joined them, after Edward had explained how he felt, and when Jasper had felt the emotions radiating off him himself - he wanted that.

Jude liked having the boys over. And she never objected to Jasper joining them. Emmett sometimes came if it was Spanish they were working on (much to Rosalie's chagrin). Their presence distracted her from her heartache - she had still not heard from Sam or Paul, and had almost given up entirely. She did not like feeling unwanted, and so shied away. 

Edward felt his stiffness relax somewhat when he had seen this in her mind. While he and Jasper still posed a risk, it was far smaller than that of the Quileute boys and their little secret.

'As long as she's safe,' Edward told himself.

***

Weeks passed and Jude had still heard nothing from her friends on the reservation. The ache in her heart had lessened and lessened as she realised that if they did not want to be friends with her, and were going to "tell" her in such a way, then she did not want to be friends with them either.

Still, she remained positive. She had a lot to be thankful for - her friends, her mother, her job - she was happy in the grand scheme of things.

It was quiet in the diner that night, quieter than usual but Jude did not bat an eyelid - it happened from time to time.

"Judey!" Waylon greeted the teenager as he entered the diner, in his fishing gear. 

"Waylon!" she cheered back, pointing at an empty stool at the bar that he could perch on. 

"Can you get me a beer, kiddo?" she nodded, smiling, lifting it up from behind the counter and sliding it towards him. "Oh! And one of those sandwiches you made me last week? I gotta tell you Judey, I think it's the best thing I've ever eaten, y'know."

Jude laughed, "you flatter me Waylon, don't worry, it's coming up for ya!"

The man cheered as Jude's mother chastised him, telling him to stop acting like a child. 

The door opened and a small breeze followed in behind the new customers.

"Evening Charlie," Jude's mother called.

"Evening Emma," the man smiled, barely containing his giddiness. 

"Hey Judey!" he called, catching the young girl's attention again, tearing her eyes from Waylon, who was pulling faces as he recounted his most recent fishing trip.

"This is Bella."